“When I first reviewed the Fairweather Gallery’s list of themes for 2018, I was intrigued. So many interesting choices. As a lover of words and all that they imply, I was attracted to the theme “pare”, “pear” or “pair. How unusual! What to choose? I selected “pare.”

“Pare” usually means “to cut back”, to “slice away”, to “remove”, and even “to simplify.” When I thought of the “to simplify”, I was hooked. Little did I know that I nearly shot myself in the foot!

As an artist, “to simplify” means to remove all that is not absolutely necessary to say what I want to say. The challenge is how few lines, how few colors, how few marks on my paper convey my meaning. I thought of the cave paintings from 30,000- 40,000 years ago in France and Spain. How simple and how elegant.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/…/journey-oldest-cave-paintings-world

Later, Picasso who was also intrigued by simplifying, drew a series of bulls. The merest line conveyed the strength, the majesty of this noble animal.

A: Indeed, every artist has spent hours staring at pears, later to paint pears to learn the study of light, shading and perspective.

Cézanne once proclaimed, “With a pear I want to astonish Paris,” and he succeeded, even in his most deceptively simple still life paintings, to dazzle and delight.

L.1988.62.32

Turning to the pears grown in the vicinity of the family’s estate, Cézanne dispensed with traditional one-point perspective and examined the fruit, plates, and table from various viewpoints—straight on, above, and sideways.

A Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D., Latin Philosophiae doctor) is the highest academic degree awarded by universities in most countries.

As part of her lifelong interest in and enjoyment of art, Jo Pomeroy-Crockett, PhD. has been painting in watercolor, water media including marbling and inks, pastel, and collage for many years. In combination with her work as a free-lance writer and educator, her painting allows her to continue developing her creativity and technical skills.

Jo Pomeroy-Crockett works primarily wet-into-wet and strives for dramatic value patterns. Bright colors, an emphasis on the play of light, and a touch of whimsy mark her paintings. She enjoys painting a wide variety of subjects.

Jo Pomeroy-Crockett was a juried member of the Arizona Artists Guild and is currently a juried member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon. She has exhibited in numerous juried art competitions. Her work is in private collections in various parts of the U.S., England, Canada, and Switzerland.

And, too, Jo Pomeroy Crockett is co-founder of the Astoria Art Loft located at 106 Third Street.

Jo Pomeroy-Crockett leads classes at Dots and Doodles located at 303 Marine Drive in Astoria, as well.

Q: What is paper marbling, you ask?

A: Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. Early in its history, marbled paper was used for important documents. Marbling always creates a one-of-a-kind monograph. Even if the exact same process was used, variations in the water, the artist’s hand movements, even the dust particles in the air prevent an exact duplicate. As such, marbled paper was used to prevent forgeries and erasure. For centuries, the secrets of marbling paper were kept closely among the masters. In the business of book binding, marbling was also used on the edges of ledgers. Theoretically, if a single leaf of the ledger was taken, the pattern would be disrupted.

And too, for more info: Richard J. Wolfe author, Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns: With Special Reference to the Relationship of Marbling to Bookbinding in Europe and the Western World.

“I particularly enjoyed the artist, Jo Pomeroy-Crockett, who shared her comments regarding gratitude. I thought about her as I read Rick Warren. His sentiments mirror those of your guest. I hope that you will share them with her.” –– Gary

“Denise Fairweather asked me to speak briefly on GRATITUDE. GRATITUDE, as you may know, is the theme of the May exhibit. Last October, when I was privileged to exhibit some of my artwork here in this gallery, Denise gave me the opportunity to select a month in 2014 to exhibit more of my paintings. We looked over the various themes for 2014 and while all the themes were of interest, I was drawn to GRATITUDE. At this point in my life, I am very thankful, grateful for so many things.

As an artist, I appreciate Nietzsche’s view that “The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. No matter what one’s level of experience, there is sheer magic as a painting comes into being. Joy and gratitude are essential to the creative process as are perseverance, determination, and work. When a painting turns out well, I always breathe a sigh of relief and say THANK YOU. As someone once said, “If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” Eckhert

GRATITUDE, in my view, is central to good mental and spiritual health. I think that it is virtually impossible to be grateful for one’s life and to be depressed at the same time. As Steve Maraboli wrote, “Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. Even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.”

The act of doing art also leads to good mental and spiritual health. Many of us have an inner drive to draw or paint or sculpt. It is so strong that if we do not do art, we grow restless and uneasy. The way to peace is simply, to draw or paint or think art. We also know the value of doing art in treating emotional/mental problems. Psychotic patients in one treatment center were taught that when they suspected a psychotic episode was coming, they immediately began to do art. In almost all cases, the psychotic episode was avoided.

GRATITUDE has many shades and much depth. We all know about being thankful, in general. But what about the gifts we are born with, the talents we have been given. Most of us discover our special gifts by adolescence, or before, or sometimes, later. Do we have a responsibility to develop those gifts?

In my professional work, I listened to many people talk about their goals, their problems, and occasionally, those things they really loved doing. More often than not, the things they really loved were not the work-related activities they considered essential to earning a living. They relegated their personal passions to sometime in the future, when “the kids are out on their own, when I can have time to myself, . ..” Many gifts seem to be pushed into the background in the interest of earning a living. One can understand, certainly, but what a price we pay.

I think each of us has a responsibility to develop our gifts, our talents. And yes, we also have a responsibility to support our families. And yes, life does interfere in developing our gifts. HOWEVER, I have observed that most of us, at some time in our lives, manage to heed that inner voice and to develop our talents.

I taught art classes for many years, often in retirement communities such as Sun City, AZ, I worked with many budding artists who were finally tapping into their artistic gifts. Whether their artistic talents were just appearing in the lifelong developmental process or the artists were finally acknowledging their artistic bent, I have no way of knowing. But, the budding artists were, at last, listening to their inner gifts demanding to get out . One painting student, at 96 and with macular degeneration never missed a watercolor class because he was determined to “paint well”.

I was blessed to have a grandfather who was an artist and an engraver. From the time I was 3 yrs. old, he encouraged me to draw and regularly critiqued by creations. One time, when I was about 10, he added a nose extension to one of my ballerinas saying, “Even beautiful dancers have noses.” To this day, I am very conscious about drawing people with plenty of nose.

As for today, I am grateful and thankful for the gifts I have been given. I work hard to develop my art gift and daily do something “artful” – drawing, painting, thinking, planning.

I believe that gratitude is essential as a mindset. I think it helps avoid arrogance, the sense of self-importance, and depression. In art or other artistic endeavors, I believe it leads to willingness to experiment, to try new materials, and to grow as an artist.

As Cicero noted, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, it is the parent of all others.” —Jo Pomeroy Crockett, PhD.

Indeed, Fairweather House and Gallery is grateful to represent Jo Pomeroy-Crockett in Seaside, Oregon.

Jo Pomeroy-Crockett and her pair art.

Jo Pomeroy-Crockett with her pear art.

Fairweather House and Gallery

612 Broadway

Seaside, Oregon

Through May 31

Perfect Pear, Pair, Pare Exhibition

Regional artists were selected due to their art related to scale and perspective, and the way things correlate and interact.

Featured art on display by Jo Pomeroy-Crockett and calligraphy by Penelope Culbertson.

COLOR IT FALL

Artist Lecture

We see color thanks to the cones in our eyes. (The rods are for night vision.) Humans are trichromats, that is, we see red, green, and blue. . . and mixtures of all these.

Many birds and fish, on the other hand, are tetrochromats and see 4 colors including ultraviolet colors invisible to us. A small percentage of women, some 2% – 3%, are tetrachromats and see at least one additional ultraviolet color.

What is your favorite color?

Ask a few people around the room. Chances are, between 50 – 60% will favor blue.

What can color do? It can . . .
* attract attention. People see color before they see anything else.
* hold attention. People pay attention to black and white for about ½ second or less. They pay attention to color for 2 – 3 seconds.
* Color has power. Consider the colors of STOP, GO and CAUTION.
*Color increases memory.

*Color images are processed before black and white images, so they are remembered better.
*Color informs better than black and white.

Research shows color improves readership by 40%, learning by 55 – 78%, and comprehension by 73%.
*Colors have personality and meaning and personalities vary with one’s culture.
*Color combined with shape sends special messages.
*Color attracts attention to brands better than words. What colors are signs? What is on the background of a sign?
*The color of your clothing tells a lot about you, your profession, and your status.
*Color transmits messages without ever using a word.

Aren’t artists lucky? We have free use of color which can to do and say so many different things! All we have to do is to learn to make use of the many meanings of color as we create our treasures. —Jo Pomeroy- Crockett, Ph.D, writer and artist.

Named the “state animal” in 1969, the American beaver builds the dams and wetlands that serve as habitat for Oregon salmon, steelhead, birds, amphibians and insects. Beavers are nature’s hydrologists, “Beaver Tales: A Celebration of Beaver Art” curator Sara Vickerman … click of the following link to read the entire front page article by Eve Marz, reporter for the Seaside Signal …

Some parents are a little more dedicated than others, according to wildlife expert Frank Ritcey. Ritcey says beavers take a more paws-on approach to raising their young. They give birth inside their lodges, where kits will stay until they’re old enough to start eating solid food.

“Once they’re old enough to venture forth, they travel about with the parent to learn how to become a beaver. [Kits] follow the adult around and mimic the adults actions,” said Ritcey.

“It’s so cute to watch — but it’s also very important as the young have to learn a whole set of skills like using the right trees to fall and how to build dams and lodges, and in general — how to be as busy as a beaver should be.”